Two Feathers
by Phantom Mime
Summary: A lonely day that links two worlds. Squall comes home.


Woot. Life. Something I wanted to write up. Who knows, maybe a miniature series will come from this. Welp, standard disclaimer applied. I don't write that often, but, hey, figured I'd do it. Enjoy.

* * *

Two Feathers

Rinoa looked out her window. Reds and blues smeared across the sky. The day had been another long and lonely one. With a sigh, she hugged her pillow against her chest and slumped over. Angelo stuck a cold nose against her owner's knee and Rinoa nudged away the comforting touch.

"I don't want to be cheered up right now." She waved a hand in the air to gesture that she wanted to be left alone to wallow in her solitude and loneliness. The telltale sound of her dog's claws clicking against the tiled floor got quieter as the dog went to focus its attention somewhere else. Rinoa sighed again.

It had been two months since the disappearance of Balamb Garden's commander. It seemed that after the mysterious abandonment, everything went haywire. Cid was forced to come out of retirement (only temporary, he said. He reassured the SeeDs that they would find the missing young man), and take over the office duties. Xu and Quistis were busy helping getting everything organized and setting up a system where they could manage without Squall's strict guidance. It was like a gaping hole where he had left. Direction was lost, faith receded in his abilities (after all, he is merely a teenager. It would only make sense that he would go away. He has his entire life in front of him. Why should he dedicate it and tie himself down to a school and some girl? Its what people were starting to say...), and most importantly, Rinoa was lonely. Every day, she would join a different search team (they worked harder when she was with them, whether they believed they would find him or not. She liked to consider herself as motivation, not pressure!), then she would wait in their field of flowers. He had promised to wait for her there. The promise didn't wear itself out after the first time, did it? Of course not. Squall was way to engraved into the significance of symbolism. That promise represented part of their bond. That field of flowers represented their love. He would wait...just whenever he got there. She had promised to find him, too. Its why she went looking for him. Rinoa felt like she would go crazy if she didn't do something productive that concerned him. Selphie, Zell, even Seifer had promised that they would find him (Seifer didn't put it so nicely, but she got the hidden meaning out of it anyway), but deep down, she knew that they couldn't do it. It would be up to him or her. Squall would return, or she would find him. Probably the former. The knight wouldn't want to be saved by his sorceress, after all.

There was a sudden knock on the wall. Rinoa sat up with a jerk. "Hey." A voice announced. Quistis poked her blond head in the open doorway. (Angelo had to have a way out, at the sacrifice of a little privacy. Squall had already said no to a doggy door, and it seemed wrong to go against his wishes while he wasn't even there to defend himself.) Rinoa spared her a glance and returned to her previous position. She waved her hand in the air.

"Maybe you shouldn't just sit in here and mope." Quistis sat down next to her on the sturdy bed.

"Maybe I want to right now. I'll be okay, I just miss him a lot right now."

Quistis shook her head. "Whatever. You're the type to feel better if you spent more of your energy on distractions."

"How can I? This entire garden reminds me of him."

"Fine then." Quistis shrugged. "I just came to check on you. We're all worried."

"I'm fine. Or, I'll be perfect when he gets back. Or I find him."

"I doubt he'll just come back. I know this is harsh, but he wouldn't just walk away-"

"I know that!"

"Then, we're going to have to find him." Quistis put her gloved hand to her chin. "It is still so odd that he disappeared so mysteriously. There wasn't even a sign of struggle. His room and office was as clean as it would have normally been. There wasn't anyway to take him out of the training area. We're flying."

"I know."

"I'm just pondering it, Rinoa. It doesn't make any sense."

"I know."

Quistis raised an eyebrow and looked at her. She then opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind. With a sigh, she patted her friend on the back and stepped out. Rinoa watched her go through cracked eyes.

"Of course I know all that stuff. I don't need to be reminded." She grumbled. The last time she had seen him was still burned in her mind. The two were having a discussion on peace. The times were relatively easy. Squall was restless, however he treasured the solitude. He was conflicted. The battlefield was more suited to him, but he was the "responsible" adult who would stay behind a desk and a pile of documents to make sure that peace stayed. (Rinoa smirked. He didn't actually say all of this, but was expressed in his silences and grunts and off-handed comments.) It seemed like he partly got his wish, but it was a mystery as to how and where he had gone. The two had said their good-nights, and Rinoa had went to sleep, completely oblivious to the events yet to come. The next morning, he was gone. He hadn't even gotten his first cup of coffee for the day. Wherever he disappeared to, he would've been grumpy.

Rinoa sighed and tried to dismiss thoughts of him, alone and scared somewhere from her mind. He was strong. He knew she was alright, and hopefully that would give him enough willpower to strive until she found him. The night grew longer, and she eventually sighed herself into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next day went according to her "schedule". (She hated calling it that. Schedules made life so mundane, and it erased any hope for surprises.) She went with a low rank group to search in Cetra. In the afternoon, she announced that it was time to go to her flower field. The worn-out SeeDs nodded and requested permission to wait in the ship. She dismissed them telling them she wasn't in a position to order them around. They merely shrugged and went to eat snacks in the ship.

The walk was relatively short. At the edge of the flowers, Rinoa stopped. At the empty house that Edea used to live in, someone was sitting on a busted column. She could feel her heart beat faster as she took several steps forward. Within seconds she was in a full run. The person stood upon hearing her approach. It was who Rinoa had hoped it would be. Squall turned around and, after getting over the initial shock of seeing her (apparently he was waiting, but he hadn't expected her to arrive. Rinoa would have to scold him for that.) opened his arms and caught her into a tight embrace. Tears stung Rinoa's eyes, but she bit them back and let out a loud laugh instead while giving him a tight squeeze.

"I missed you so much!" She choked out. Squall only squeezed her in return. His silence meant a number of things, but only a few could be discerned. He had missed her. He still loved her. It wasn't his fault he was gone. The two was in their odd equilibrium. Rinoa started blubbering and trying to tell him about what went on while he was gone as he remained predictably silent. After several minutes of this, he wrapped his arm around her waist and they both sat down on that same column.

"Where were you?" Rinoa leaned and stuck her face right next to his. (This was pressure, not motivation. This way, he would have to talk and not avoid the question. Not like he would do either of those.)

"Its crazy." He finally murmured after a long pause (probably another inner monologue.)

"I'll believe you if you tell me the truth." Rinoa eyed his new clothes. The cleavage in his short was deeper and he now sported fur around his hips. She playfully squeezed them and he swiped her hand away awkwardly.

"I...was fighting a war." He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "I was...summoned there."

"Summoned? By a sorceress?"

"No. Well, I suppose you could call her that." He responded. "Anyway, I'm back now that we won the war."

"We? Where were you? We've looked all over, and it seems odd that we would miss a war going on."

"I...don't know where I was. Probably someplace far away."

"Faraway? Obviously."

"I think I might have been on another planet. It wasn't anyplace I'd ever seen before and there were other people there. They didn't seem like they were from our planet. Or time, I guess. That might make more sense, but..." He trailed off in thought, then looked as if he dismissed it. "Probably other worlds." He then added much more quieter. "It wouldn't make sense if there was someone in our history with tails. It just wouldn't make sense."

"Tails?"

"Ignore it. They were different, to say the least."

"Another planet?"

"I told you it was crazy."

Rinoa shook her head and beamed at him. "I don't care. You're not the type to lie to me. I think its safe to assume you're telling the truth."

Squall seemed a little relieved, but only showed it through a silence. After a while of enjoying each other's company, the SeeDs came searching for Rinoa. It was time for Squall to finally go home.

* * *

"What's that in your hand, Squall?"

"..." It was a feather.

"Aw, did it remind you of me?"

"..." Squall released the white feather into the sky.

"Why'd you do that?"

"..." The feather floated back down, in an odd, supernatural sort of way. Rinoa watched it, slightly confused. It wasn't the same feather. A yellow feather, much larger and less delicate landed in Squall's gloved hand.

"What is that?"

"..." Squall stared at it for along time. Finally he responded, "My good luck charm."

"And not a feather that reminded you of me?" She sounded exasperated. Squall stared guiltily at the feather.

"Sorry." He mumbled. She wasn't sure where it was directed at. It sounded like he was talking to some character the feather might represent, but, it very well was probably directed at her, since she was the only living thing around that could have been directed at.

"No, its okay. Does it remind you of a friend? Did you make some new friends?" She smiled. "Probably best friends, huh?"

Squall gave the feather another long stare. "..." He finally tucked it into his pocket instead of offering a response. His silence was as if to say, _Yes. I did._

* * *

Yessss. Short drabble-ish thing. Didn't take me long. Obviously. Um, not sure whether or not to publish as a crossover. I didn't, because, well, none of the other characters were actually mentioned. So, yeah. Dissidia. For those of you who couldn't figure it out, because I wasn't clear enough. I tried.


End file.
